Dan Meyer has been looking back at his short, albeit significant career as an educator. Someone left a comment wondering what he would attribute his growth over the past few years.
In a word: “blogging.”
In seven words: “blogging and probably using a digital projector.”
The digital projector opened up my classroom and practice to visuals, which was a profound, if rocky and still ongoing transition.
But blogging was the cheapest, most risk-free investment I could have made of my personal time into my job. You start by writing down things that are interesting to you, practices you don’t want to forget. And then you start trying new things just so you can blog about them later, picking them apart, and dialoging over them with strangers. Periods of stagnancy in your blogging start to correspond to periods of stagnancy in your teaching. You start to muse on your job when you’re stuck in traffic, in line for groceries, that sort of thing. That transformation has been nothing but good for me and it all began on a free Blogspot blog.
Whenever I ask my pre-service teachers or classroom teachers to blog, it comes with a variety of reasons and purposes. Not everyone uses a blog to be reflective, but reflective practice in isolation has its challenges. There’s nothing like a solid testimonial like this to once again point to the value of open and transparent exchange of ideas. This is also why I often hesitate to suggest twitter to folks wanted to engage with other educators. Not that it has less value but there’s no way twitter can replace blogging as a form of reflective practice. I don’t suspect many use it that way but when it’s referred to as "micro-blogging" I get a little worried about that comparison. Blogging isn’t about building a sizeable audience necessarily. It’s about finding enough critical friends to make you work at getting better. Thanks to all who have done that for me.
cc licensed flickr photo shared by shareski
hi – this blog, combined with http://adhockley.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/the-role-of-teacher-observations/#comment-22 (which I also read this morning) have encouraged me to stop procrastinating on creating a professional reflections blog.
Thanks!
I started blogging last fall and started Twittering last month. I think there is a big difference. Blogging is a wonderful tool for professional reflection, especially for those who enjoy writing. Blogging also helps to create the PLN that enhances one’s own reflection with the dialogue and different perspectives offered by others. Twitter, at this point, I admit, is very overwhelming. I see it more as a means of connecting and communicating, a wealth of resources and essential to creating/maintaining a PLN for educators.
.-= Errin´s last blog ..Tips on Creating Effective School Technology Leadership =-.
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I”m printing this one out to use during my next interview.
.-= Brendan Murphy´s last blog ..Qualty of Education =-.
You have said what I have been discovering. I really enjoy the conversations of blogs over the non-stop tweets. Twitter is useful for resources and advertising blogs. Sometimes there are good conversations on Twitter
, but the 140 limit does not always lend itself to in depth conversations. Those who think blogs are declining are so wrong.
Thanks for the post. Honestly? I like blogs more than the real media. Ans I like blogging too. As a blog writer, you can talk out of your butt instead of researching facts and getting confirmation from players, managers, coaches, GMs etc.
As a blog writer, you can be lazy and some readers won’t know the dif. You’ll still come across looking like you know what you’re talking about. You can write opinion as fact, and figure that most people won’t know the dif. The sad thing is that most people actually won’t know the difference.
I realize a lot of what I’m reading lately has to do with the current financial crisis, but your post is another story 🙂 thank you for sharing this!
Excellent entry on the value of blogging! I like your analogy that blogging is a mirror reflection on one’s thought process. And then when you add the ability to leave COMMENTS, together with a PLN, you begin to take a magnified reflective look at the topic.
great fine thing to know…..great things Dan…..
When I was in graduate school, we were required to keep a reflection journal every day. I found it to be time consuming but extremely valuable, and I made promises to myself more than once that I would maintain (and later restart) the habit. For me, blogging has finally become that regular reflection on my professional practice that I need to stay sharp. The added advantage is that sometimes what I reflect on connects with someone else and we start a conversation about it.
.-= Gerald Aungst´s last blog ..Racing to Catch Up With the Past =-.
Blogging as a forum for reflective practices makes good sense. Any reflective discovery is productive to one’s personal growth if positive change is the desired outcome. Anytime I’ve had the opportunity to carry on a reflective conversation with like minded individuals I have come away with new insights, increased awareness, increased dedication and enthusiasum, as well becoming more goal oriented. The great thing about blogging is the individuals that consider your posts and comment do so without any real emotional attachment. I believe that emotional distance can keep the information more pure. Most certainly any real reflective activity which focuses on improvement of yourself in order to better serve others is a worthy activity everytime.
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